Should Voting Be Made Compulsory in Britain?

Politics & Economics
Should voting be made compulsory in Britain?Britain currently employs a voluntary voting system, whereby it is entirely up to the individual to choose whether to vote or not. 32 countries across the world, such as; Australia, Switzerland and Belgium, employ a compulsory voting system, were the citizens of their countries must register their vote in elections. This paper is going to look into the positive, negative, opportunity and threat aspects of whether voting should be made compulsory in Britain.

One of the main arguments for Britain adopting a compulsory voting system is to facilitate higher rates of electoral participation after poor turnouts in the last two general elections, were only 59.4% and 61.4% of the public have turned out , the lowest amounts since World War I. In fact at the last election, non-voters were the largest single group, outnumbering those who voted Labour into power. Compulsory voting would cause this group to contribute, helping to address the issue that low participation indicates a lack of interest in politics and decreases the legitimacy of the party elected. On average countries with compulsory turnout have 15 per cent higher turnout than countries where voting is voluntary.' Compulsory voting in Britain would therefore increase the amount of people who vote, thus helping to give more legitimacy to the victor. This is because a higher turnout, for example 80%, would take a broader public perspective and therefore be much more widely respected than that of a sample of only 61% of the population.

Conversely, a poor turnout does not necessarily justify compulsory voting. Employing a system whereby everyone was required to vote regardless would merely disguise voter apathy and legitimise a lack of content in policies and an inability to inspire the public. There is also no certainty that the public would actually pay attention to what each party stands for and may vote to simply avoid any sanctions imposed for not voting. This therefore is not making any progress into how the public as a whole wants their country to be run. Compulsory voting would in this case not be in the best interests of the country.

An example of the more extreme sanctions come from Brazil where the following can occur "Sanctions include a fine corresponding to a small percentage of the minimum wage of the region where the individual was registered to vote. The non-voter is banned from taking professional exams, or from obtaining a loan or a passport. Failure to vote in three consecutive elections, non-payment of fines or failure to justify absence within six months can lead to registration being cancelled." This of course is the most extreme, but even if no sanctions are brought about, there is then no incentive for people to attend. Not only this, fines could also be viewed as a cash cow', further disenfranchising the public. This would distance the public further and only serve to undo the effort of trying to get the public actively involved and conscientious about politics and how the country should be run. Tensions already exist over the government using schemes such as congestion charges to claim more money from the public, so any moves to introduce sanctions would be met with firm opposition.

The voting system which we use in Britain is known as a first-past-the-post-system'. In this system the candidate with more votes than any other is elected.' The problem with this system is that regardless of turnout involved the government can be elected without gaining a majority of the votes cast, if the combined votes for two or more parties total more than the party elected. For example Labour could come into power when more people choose to vote for Liberal Democrats and Conservatives combined. Regardless of the increased turnout due to compulsory voting, it is not a good representation of the public opinion if there is a greater majority for other parties...

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...2013
CompulsoryVoting
1
Topic of the paper
Democracy is built on freedom to vote and have your political say, but the majority of people in the world’s ‘greatest’ democracies never vote at all. Is compulsory participation in the political system the answer? Investigate countries which make votingcompulsory – weigh the advantages and disadvantages – then argue for or against this policy.
Abstract
Compulsoryvoting solves the problem of low political participation during elections; therefore, winning politicians and political parties cannot be considered non-legitimate in mandatory voting. On the other hand, mandatory voting has more disadvantages than advantages. Firstly, it is against the freedom of individuals, because people already do not have a right to vote, but it is their duty. It is also against freedom of speech, because part of freedom of speech is freedom not to speak, which is denied by mandatory voting. Also, there are many people who are not interested in politics, or in certain elections, especially elections to European Parliament. Such a people do not need to express their opinion in elections, or they do not feel directly influenced by politics. This paper was written after research of several academic sources and small personal survey in streets of New York.
2
Outline
I....

...Justine
Lacroix
Fifth
Re-­‐Bel
Event
9th
June
2011
Should
the
obligation
to
vote
be
abolished?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Is
CompulsoryVoting
Justified
in
a
Liberal
Democracy
?
The
normative
debate
on
compulsoryvoting
has
recently
known
a
revival
in
political
theory1.
One
of
the
main
issues
at
stake
is
whether
compulsoryvotingshould
be
considered
as
a
liberal
or
as
an
illiberal
practice.
In
this
presentation,
I
will
first
consider
the
arguments
put
forward
by
the
authors
who
consider
that
compulsoryvoting
has
no
place
in
a
liberal
democracy.
Against
this
conception,
I
will
argue
that
compulsoryvoting
is
not
only
permissible
by
liberal
standards,
but
actively
required
by
them.
I.
To
be
sure,
all
authors
recognize
that
most
liberals
regard
...

...Shouldvoting be compulsory?
The voter apathy in Canada in the 2004 federal elections was so high, that politicians are now searching for a method to increase the turnout. One of the possible solutions is introducing the mandatory voting, where every voter is forced to participate in the elections.
First of all one big benefit of the mandatory voting is the equalization of the social bias because according to some surveys a very big part of the voters are white property owners. If all people are forced to go voting, this inequality will be balanced.
A second advantage of compulsoryvoting is, that the government would be more legitimized, because more people “say” (vote for): “Yes, we want this people to govern our country.”. Especially young people under the age of 35, poor and bad educated people are hardly represented today, but a very big part of them would be represented if they are forced to vote.
The final reason for mandatory voting is pretty simple: It works. In Australia the compulsoryvoting has already been introduced, and since then the turnout considerably increased. It's very likely, that it would be the same in Canada and every other state.
But on the other hand there are some burdens as well.
For example the results of the elections won't be more representative as before then, because many...

...CompulsoryVoting in Election, though highly desirable, cannot be attained due to a number of reasons.
Some common reasons that come to mind without pondering a lot are: health issues of voters; which might bar them from exercising vote with a perception that no election is important than their health. Although a passion is seen amongst certain invalids; who are often carried to polling booth by their family on back ; a majority skips the same; especially ones living in metropolitans. They consider carrying their sick and bedridden family members to polling booth as a burden . Another major reason could be male chauvinistic attitude of Indian men ; who always underestimate thoughts and actions of their women. They especially prefer confining their women within the home on polling day. This is the one major reason of fewer number of female voters as compared to males; particularly in villages and small towns.
Another reason; for turning off the voters for polling is the increased incidences of violence, booth capturing and criminal activities at polling booth; Making voters reluctant for voting. Such incidences can be easily observed in underdeveloped as well as developing nations with high corruption.
A few other reasons; which handicaps Constitution in making polling compulsory or rather Imposing punishment could be the distance between pooling booth and voter’s residence. The situation gets worsened if...

...a democracy, voting ought to be compulsory.
To clarify I offer the following definitions courtesy of Oxford Dictionaries
Compulsory – something that must be done
Ought- moral obligation
Voting- the act of stating a preference to determine the outcome of something
Democracy: a system of government by the whole population, or all eligible members of a state
Value: Morality
According to the Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, morality can be defined as “a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons”
Rational – in accordance with reason or logic
My value criterion is maximizing societal welfare.
which ensure that the needs of the majority are being prioritized which in terms of moral integrity outweighs the will of individuals.
. Observation 1. The European Court of Human rights, ruled in 1971 that the practice of compulsoryvoting is not in violation of fundamental freedoms. This is because compulsoryvoting systems do not require people to actually vote and it is the fact that attendance at the polls which is compulsory. In X v Austria 1971, the ECHR ruled hat compulsoryvoting did not amount to a violation of the right to "freedom of thought conscience and religion", provided that only attendance is compulsory and that...

...CompulsoryVotingCompulsoryvoting would result in a decrease in the quality and accuracy of voting results and political leadership. Countries such as Australia do not take many factors into consideration when they require their citizens to vote in local, state, and national elections. Compulsoryvoting causes skewed results and stress for citizens who are not physically fit or mentally competent enough to vote accurately.
Apathy and uneducated citizens can result in invalid voting results. If all people were forced to vote, uneducated citizens who are not familiar with the issues and concerns on the ballot might cast random, careless votes. Voters who are complacent about their country’s government would also create skewed results because they are not likely to research the topics they vote on. Secondly, each individual who is knowledgeable has a greater impact on the final results. These citizens who are informed, keep up with current events, and take the time to vote voluntarily because they recognize the importance of it should be rewarded. In many countries, citizens do not have an influence in government decisions. In parts of the world where citizens have the right to vote, the only method to create an accurate representation of the desires of citizens is to leave voting voluntary, not compulsory....

...Shouldvoting be mandatory?
I would like to initiate with a quote, which falls apt to the topic and my point of view on it- “A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.” -(Theodore Roosevelt). The answer to the question, 'Shouldvoting be mandatory', lies in the topic itself. Before I go any further with what my views are, I would like to clear, the basic definition of the word- Vote. “It is a formal Expression of Opinion or Will, in response to a proposed decision” -(Merriam Webster). Voting, in our case, can more specifically be stated as the expression of a person's opinion towards a political scenario and their choice amongst the options. We are really well aware of the fact that Voting is very important in our Government process, and the voters know that just as well as the candidates. Voting is a very powerful tool in the hands of the voters and it is in them we trust, to pay attention to the beliefs and ideals that a person has, whom they are voting for. It is also the need for votes, which propels a candidate to work hard and produce results based on the promises that need to be fulfilled once he has been elected by a majority of votes. Coming to my views on Mandatory Voting, I personally feel that Mandatory Voting is an abridgment of my freedom. Even though I do have the Right to Vote and I...

...The persistent decline in voter participation continues to disappoint German politicians. When roughly one-third of the voting age population turns out for a Parliamentary election once every four years – let alone federal or local elections – it becomes difficult to defend the “free” right to vote. Voting is not only a right, but a responsibility. Therefore, voting in elections should be compulsory in Germany as a way to increase voter turnout and to raise overall political awareness.
Contrary to the public belief that a legal obligation to vote is a rarity, compulsoryvoting has been used successfully in over twenty-five countries worldwide and for almost 125 years. For instance, both Australia and Belgium introduced compulsoryvoting in the early twentieth century to address the problem of low participation. During 1946 and 2012, both countries regularly yielded a solid 90 percent turnout of the eligible voting age population. Whereas, during the same period, Germany produced a scant 65 percent average.
Compulsoryvoting not only increases voter turnout, but also broadens electoral integrity and democratic legitimacy. The obligation to vote guarantees that a winning candidate or political party represents a majority of the population, not only a minority of politically interested individuals who happen...